


Lions, Lockets, and Legacy Knifes

by pocketramblr



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, It gets crazy, Marmora the Charecter, Please Send Help, alright i finally finished season 5 and i gotta tell you, also explaining where the real shiro is fic, and also voltron vehicle force fic, and his wife!, but... might be some minor changes, im going to try to make it season 5 compliant, keith's heritage fic, oh i havent even mentioned the sven/romelle tie ins, or an assassin, or the weirdest use of quintessance yet, probably not going to be season 5 compliant, who knows really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 18:30:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13687368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocketramblr/pseuds/pocketramblr
Summary: While en route to the base of the Blade of Marmora, Team Voltron picks up a Galra signal heading suspiciously near Earth. Instead of an attack force, they find a human- a childhood friend of Keith's, April Wescoga. While trying to puzzle out what it all means, the team has another problem on their hands- or actually, quite a few. Team up with the Blade, get a message back to Earth, find a way to defend Earth from light years away, and then take a well deserved nap. Or, you know, hunt down your missing leader/convince the UN purple aliens are out for you/reproduce the universe's most powerful weapons.





	1. Prologue

_10,000 Years Ago- Altean Outpost_

* * *

 

“Alfor and all of us agree. We are sending the Lions away.” The blue amphibian man said.

“What do you mean, Babba?” his daughter asked, pulling her husband close.

“Zarkon cannot be allowed to have Voltron again.”

The couple exchanged a look, then shrugged.

“Alright. When do you leave?” the woman said.

“I won’t be.”

“But I thought you said-“

“Blue- and the others- will leave. But the other paladins and I, we will stay and fight Zarkon.”

“All right. When is our next move?”

“You will be going.”

Synclra blinked. “What? No, Babba, I don’t think-“

“You must. Blue will let you pilot, and neither of us could fight if we were worried about you.”

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself out there, Babba.” She said tersely. “I am just as much a warrior as you.”

“We know, dear.” Her husband placed a hand on her shoulder.

“We do.” Blaytz agreed. “But could you risk the baby?” he gestured to her round stomach. She was only about a third a way to full term.

Synclra touched her abdomen absently, thinking. Then she shook her head.

“I can’t leave you two.”

“Syn, I know. But you are the only other person who can pilot Blue, and it makes more sense to send you.” Her Babba grabbed her hands and began rubbing them with his thumbs.

“Fine. But I’m coming back to you.”

“We’ll send you the coordinates once it is safe.” Blaytz promised.

“Alright. When should I leave?”

“Now.” Blaytz handed her a pack. “Take Blue to the castle, Alfor will tell you where to go from then.” He kissed her on the forehead.

“Good-bye, Babba. I’ll see you soon.”

“Good-luck, Synclra.”

Synclra turned to her husband. He was pulling a weapon off his belt.

“Syn, take this with you.” He offered her a dagger, one of the ones he had custom made from luxite, with his signature on it. She rubbed the symbol absently.

“Thank you. I’ll miss you, love.”

“I’ll miss you too, Please, stay safe.”

“I expect you to send for me before our child is born.”

“I’ll do my best. Farewell, my heart.”

“Farewell, my dear Marmora.” Synclra hugged the Galran one last time, kissed him, and walked to Blue.

Blaytz and Marmora waved to her as she sat in her dad’s piloting seat.

“Hey Blue, it’s time to go.”

The Lion rumbled, looking back at the men.

“I know, girl. But we’ll come back soon.”

They would not.

* * *

_Present- Jupiter’s Orbit_

* * *

 

“Hey, I’m about to enter the Jupiter Sling, so I won’t be able to comm you for two days.” The girl told her grandmother as she checked her flightpath.

“Alright. There was no sign of him on the asteroid?” Baanahmida asked.

“No, Mida. There was not. But I asked around, they’ll tell us if they find anything. And-“ she hesitated.

“And what, Aponi?”

“Well, if I send out a signal as I round Jupiter, I might be able to see if any of them are on this half of the solar system.”

“Alright, but be careful. We don’t want to alert any actual Galra.”

“Of course, Mida. I will see you in a few days.”

“Safe travels, Aponi.”

The girl turned off her comm. She checked her path again, and set an alarm for five hours to send out a signal.

She would be slinging around Jupiter in order to save fuel. Her small cargo ship only had space for two people with the supplies she was carrying when she left. Now, it could seat three comfortably, and five or six if the others didn’t mind to floor. Still, even with more space not being take up by food, water, and fuel, the ship felt too small alone. She had hoped to find him, but deep inside she knew it was unlikely.

She gazed out the port screen at the stars.

“Come on Keith. Where are you?”

* * *

 

_10,000 Years Ago- Earth’s Atmosphere_

* * *

 

Syn wiped the sweat off her fore head.

“Come on Blue, come on!”

They were entering the atmosphere of a planet distant enough from Daibazaal- or its remains- that Zarkon shouldn’t be able to find them. The natives where millennia from being able to travel through space. But landing was becoming rough, and she could hardly guide the Lion down. What had they been thinking, sending her. She wasn’t a paladin!

The displays flashed red again in warning, and she realized she didn’t have much time. She twisted the throttle with one hand and threw the other over her now even bigger belly to protect it. In the time it had taken to reach here, with erratic wormholes so they couldn’t be tracked, she had almost come to full term. Maybe just under a gonte left. She remembered how her husband had promised to send coordinates before the babe was born. She highly doubted that he would keep that promise.

She shook her head, she couldn’t think like that.

She braced for impact, and had a moment of relief when she saw the dust falling around them. They made it!

Then she blacked out from the pain in her shattered legs- from where they had braced her from the front of the cockpit, her headache and general pregnancy pain.

Blue acted fast, freezing the air in the cockpit to cryosleep levels, and hoped it would be enough to let her heal. She knew she had would not see her Paladin again. She could sense he still lived, but she knew it should not last. At least she could save his cub and grandchild.

Shifting all power to the temperature and shield, the Blue Lion slowly shut off to sleep, with her passengers, for a few thousand years.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synclra finds safety in the lands of the Havsuwʼ Baaja, but she is unsure of where, or when, she really is. Meanwhile, a human holding an old, alien artifact finds herself literally pulled into a world she was only dimly aware of.

_Present- Castle of the Lions_

* * *

 

“Hey, guys, look at this.” Pidge called out.

“What is it?” Allura asked, tense. They were about to calculate the safe path to open a wormhole to the blade of Marmora, and she was not looking forward to meeting them.

“My Galra finder is picking up something weird from a distant part of the galaxy. They shouldn’t be there.”

Pidge zoomed in to look at the system, then frowned.

“Is it an attack?”

“Np, it seems to be a search signal. But…”

“But what, Pidge?” Shiro asked.

“But, well it shouldn’t be possible, but… it looks like its broadcasting with an earthen search signal. And, the position….”

“The Galra are near earth?” Lance asked, wide eyed.

“No, just… just some Galra tech. if I’m right, it is circling Jupiter right now.”

“I didn’t know our scanners could reach our system.” Shiro strode over to look at the beacon.

Pidge adjusted her glassed. She had been working on adjusting the computers to allow them to scan their home star system, but she hadn’t known it was functioning, as there was nothing there that could receive the type of transmission the castle could send. Of course, she hadn’t thought there was anything there they could receive either.

“Yeah, well, there is definitely something weird about this signal-  It might have to do with Jupiter- oh that’s not good.”

“What?” several voices asked at once.

“Jupiter’s gravity and storm are amplifying the signal. Other Galra might show up in our system.”

“We can’t let that happen!” Lance jumped out of his seat and ran to look at the screen. “The Galra can’t reach earth!”

Keith bit his lip. “If they haven’t already. Wait. Shiro, why didn’t they continue after Earth after encountering the Kerberos Mission?”

Shiro shrugged. “I don’t know. If I had to guess, it’s because they thought we were explorers from another system because there wasn’t anything inhabited there. It would explain why we were so far from the sun and everything even remotely close was a gas giant. We certainly didn’t tell them anything about earth or where we were from.”

The others nodded.

“Of course, Ulaz knew where to program my pod to land, and there was that ship Blue fought, so maybe not.”

The paladins groaned.

“There’s got to be a way to intercept or stop that signal.” Pidge mused. “Maybe if I could decode it- the castle’s not set up for earth signals, I might be able to make a program to translate it though….”

“That would take too much time!” Lance argued. “Look, they are looking around Jupiter, probably heading towards earth.”

“This Jupiter, it is a large gaseous planet?” Allura asked.

The earthen nodded.

“And is that- a storm?” she indicated the red spot on the image.”

“Yep.” Pidge agreed. “Well, a little more complicated than that, but yeah.”

Allura pursed her lips, then changed the scanners to look at EM and Electricity. She paused.

“I could try to bring it to us through a wormhole.”

“Your highness! We can’t just bring a mysterious Galra to our castle!” Coran protested.

“We cannot let them get to earth… I will not let another planet be destroyed like Altea.” She said.

The paladins looked between each other, thinking.

“Maybe its best we just head on to the Blade of Marmora. Maybe they could explain it?” Shiro said slowly. He didn’t want to let the mysterious Galra go, but this could be a trap.

“We might lose the signal if we go that far.” Pidge pointed out.

“How big is that ship, can we tell?” asked Lance.

“Maybe. Let me see.” Pidge narrowed her eyes, looking though the code. Finally, she spoke. “It would appear to be about the size of a small earthen carrier- maybe twice the size of the simulation ones at the garrison?”

“We can take ‘em!” Lance said.

Shiro thought about it, then nodded. “Princess, open the worm hole to bring them in, but keep shields at full. Keith, you and I will be in our lions. The rest of you, be ready to fight and form Voltron if needed.”

“Got it.” Everyone said, running to their respective places.

“Pidge, lock on their coordinates in, oh, three minutes. That’s when I’ll open the wormhole” Allura said. Pidge sent the info to her, then followed the others to the hangar.

“I hope this works.” She muttered. 

* * *

 

  _Present: Jupiter’s Orbit_

* * *

 

Aponi sighed. She hated the radio silence. Nothing to do but wait. She pulled her locket out of shirt, letting it float in front of her. She had opened it exactly six times in her life- once at sixteen, when her grandmother had passed it down to her, then every once each of the four years since in the lion caves. She wasn’t supposed to open it anywhere else. Tracing the white symbols in the purple metal, she sighed. Maybe if she opened it again in the ship, in space, something in the recording would tell her something new- she would notice a key background piece and know where to look for Keith.

No, she though, tapping it and watching it fly to end of the chain. No, there wasn’t anything new in the message. It would be the same datastream every time, until the rest of the data was unlocked.

And she couldn’t really do that without Keith, could she?

Sighing, she took hold of it.

“Please.” She muttered. “Please, help me find him. Help me find you son.”

The locket glowed, as it always did when she prepared to open it. But she shouldn’t, not again. It wouldn’t help.

But it wouldn’t hurt, either, a little voice told her. And it would give her something to focus on in her mind-numbing orbit of this planet.

Cautiously, she cracked open the locket, and a video screen projected about it.

A woman in traditional Havasupai dress appeared. “Hello. My name is Synclra. This locket is a gift to my dear friend, Yuul. Yuul, I am entrusting this datastream to you and your family. Inside is more information on my people, the Star Coyote, or as we call ourselves: Galra. I am loading these stories here for my children need them. For now, they cannot know the truth. They would be in danger. But someday, there may be a return of the Lions, or else a Galra attack. If- when either happens, and I pray it is the first, bring the locket to my son- or his son, if that is the case. He will have a dagger that will open the rest of the information. Until then… please take care of the Lion. Thank you, my Friend.”

The screen went black. As always, it was the same message. Aponi let it play again, looking out at the stars. She knew the Coyote woman had emerged from the Lion and joined her people. She knew that Keith was her descendant. She knew she was a descendant of the friend Synclra gave the locket too. Nothing new, in the five years since she had been given the locket.

Well, that wasn’t true.

She knew the Lion had awoken, and carried Keith and some others into the sky. And she knew he needed the rest of the data in the locket. She groaned.

This was hopeless. 

* * *

 

_Unknown Time- Somewhere on Earth_

* * *

 

Synclra blinked her eyes open, confused. It was so cold- wait. Where was she?

Slowly, she sat up, looking around. She was sitting on the ground next to the Blue Lion’s front paw. she felt her arms and legs- sore, but nothing broken. She felt too weak to stand though.

A sound from behind her drew her attention. She turned, and saw some sort of figure crouched on a cave wall. Oh, she was in a cave.

The figure was wearing some type of dress, with a cloak made of some kind of animal hide tied over their shoulder. It had two legs and arms, long dark hair, with some strange bits sticking out. She held a woven basked filled with plants.

Synclra pulled herself up, bracing herself against the Lion’s leg.

“Halt. Who are you?” She asked, hoping the translator in her vest still worked.

The figure slowly stood, and Synclra realized that they had red lines painted around their face, and that the strange hair bits were feathers. They did not seem to grow naturally, so they must be decorative. Or ritualistic, perhaps? The figure seemed similar to an Altean, but with very dark hair and short, round ears.

“Gam’yu.” The figure said. Syclra’s translator told her it was a type of greeting. “My name is Yuul.” She paused. “Forgive me, Kachina, but you emerged from the Great Cat. What- Who are you?”

“The Great Cat? Oh! Yes, the Blue Lion.” She looked up at the creature. Its light was down, but she expected that, given how far away her Paladin was. Well, if he even lived… what day was it?

“Ly-ohn” the figure- Yuul- said slowly, testing the word. “And you, strange Kachina?”

“What does that mean, ’Kachina’?” she asked instead.

Yuul blinked. “Um, you know… a spirit, with power? The Hopi tell tales of them, and you are no creature I have heard of.”

Oh, she should have expected that. This was a planet that had not explored the galaxy yet, so these people would have no idea what she was.

“I am no Kachina. My name is Synclra. I am… well, my Mother was a Galra and my father is a Nalqui.”

“What does Galra mean?”

Synclra thought about it. She didn’t really know how to explain the current, er, political situation of the galaxy to a person who had stayed planet side their entire life, not to mention all the different species and planets. She pulled out her portscreen, a purple circle. Opening it, she pulled up an image of a Galra.

“This is a Galra.”

Yuul’s eyes were very wide, and Synclra hoped they were not injured.

“It is some sort of… strange Coyote!”

“I do not know what Coyote is, but probably, yes.” She carefully put the portscreen away.

“Um, may I ask another question?”

“Of course.” She hoped it wasn’t about the others. She didn’t want to think about missing her husband, or the fate of the other Galra.

“Do Galra normally look like that, or are you… with child?” they asked, gesturing to its abdomen.

Synclra smiled. “Yes, I am.” She rubbed her stomach happily.

“How long until it comes?”

Synclra paused. “I… don’t know exactly, but soon. How long was I out?”

“I don’t know what you mean?”

“Do you know how long this had been here?” she patted the Lion’s leg.

“The… Ly-ohn? Synclra, that has been here forever.”

“What?”

* * *

 

_Present- Jupiter orbit_

* * *

 

Aponi watched the video again as she spun the locket in the zero-g. Bored, she pulled out her own datapad and began to doodle. Halfway through another little flower, something caught her eye. A flash of light through the windshield. She looked up, and gasped.

A strange glowing circle in the space in front of the shuttle had appeared from thin… vacuum… inside, purple and stars swirled.

Turning off autopilot, she grabbed the controls and pulled a hard right. She couldn’t risk going closer into the planet’s gravity pull. Hoping to pull around the whatever it was, she pushed the fuel driver up.

She hit the white edge of the thing, and began to spin. She pushed the fuel as high as it would go, but the thing had a steady pull on her, and she was dragged into the thing.

The white border closed, and what she could see of Jupiter, and the rest of the system, disappeared.

* * *

 

_Present- Castle of the Lions_

* * *

 

The wormhole spat out the ship. Three paladins watched it warily from the window, Keith and Shiro in their lions. Pidge pulled up a close-up of it.

“It seems to be a typical earth shuttle.” Pidge said. “Um, that’s the American flag, and the one next to it is…” she paused, thinking.

Next to the American flag and the Earthen Space Union logo, was a blue flag with a circular yellow seal, split into four sections. She tried to get a better look at it.

“That’s the flag of the Havasupai tribe.” Keith spoke up through his comm.

The others stayed quiet, confused.

“The Havasupai Reservation is close to the Garrison school.” He pointed out.

“Well, the Galra signal seems to have shut off.” Pidge mused.

“Wait, someone is leaving the shuttle!” Lance said, pointing.

There was a figure in a space suit- not a garrison one, but a civilian one- hooked to a tether pulling themselves out of the back hatch. They headed to the thrusters.

“They must have damaged the thrusters when going through the wormhole.” Hunk said. “So… what do we do?”

They exchanged glances. Keith furrowed his eyebrows, looking back at the ship.

“Maybe we should pull them into the ship? Question them, but carefully. They might not be a threat.”

“They had a Galra signal, Keith.” Lance snorted.

“Yeah, and a Havasupai-American ship. We should expect anything.”

“Yeah, like an attack from a-“ Lance started. Shiro cut him off.

“We’ll bring them in. Everyone, arm yourselves, but don’t attack unless they do. Princess?”

Allura nodded, starting up the tether beam.

Feeling the pull, the figure looked behind them, and apparently seeing the castle and the two lions hovering in front of it for the first time. They jerked back, grabbed their kit and raced inside the shuttle, closing the hatch behind them.

Shiro looked at Keith’s lion, which was staring blankly at the shuttle while the others made their way to the lowered deck.

“Keith?”

The red paladin jumped in his seat, then maneuvered his lion back inside. “Uh, yeah?”

“You… you think it’s her, don’t you?”

Keith swallowed thickly, but didn’t deny it. “I don’t know what I think, Shiro.” He slowly followed the others. Shiro shook his head and followed, ignoring Allura’s concerned glance.

* * *

 

_Unknown Tim_ _e- Havasupai Reservation_

* * *

 

Yuul led Synclra out of the caves and through a sandy plain. Synclra took careful evaluation of the planet. From space, she had seen a large amount of water, but this area was dry, hot, and full of shifting sands. She was a bit more grateful for her Galra blood, the thin fur keeping more water in her blue skin than would happen to a member of her father’s species. She rubbed her stomach thoughtfully.

Following her guide around one of the large rock pillars that dominated the landscape, Synclra was surprised to find a beautiful waterful, flowing further into the canyon. On their level, she was greeted with the sight of several conical buildings. There were a few people walking between them or on the back of some sort of animal. Yuul smiled at her, and began to quicken her pace.

“Gsayo! Gsayo!” she called. It didn’t translate. Was it a name, or some sort of specific greeting?

Synclra hurried to follow her to a building, where another woman was standing.

“Gam’yu.” she said Yuul, and Synclra recognized the greeting from what the native earthen had asked her when they had met.”

“Gam’yu.” Yuul repeated. She paused, then grabbed Synclra by the shoulders and pushed her around the cone shaped building, into the dark, cool shade, much to Synclra’s relief.

“Mother, this is Synclra. I was down by the Great Cat this morning, and I saw it spit her out!”

The woman turned to study Synclra.

“Oh my. You have brought us some kind of Hopi Kachina, girl. I thought I said husband.” The last bit was teasing.

“Gsayo!” she protested, laughing. She paused, then poured some water into a small bowel and offered it their guest, who took it happily.

“I am no kachina, ma’am” Synclra butted in, before sipping the water.

“Then a clever Wuya?”

“I don’t know what that means. I am merely an Nalqui Galra woman, er, a Coyote Woman?”

The woman studied her silently, then shrugged. “Alright, a Coyote then.” She turned to a corner of a room, sitting by a flat stone with some sort of plant on it. Picking up another stone, she began to grind the plant. “How long until you are due?”

“I- I don’t know exactly. I fell asleep in the lion- er, the Great Cat’s hold. But soon, I think.”

“Will you be staying here long?”

“I have nowhere else to go.” Well, not until she got a message saying it was safe enough to take Blue back, to go home. But that didn’t seem like it would happen very soon. On the other hand, she didn’t know how long they had been asleep. Perhaps Blue woke them up because she knew a message would arrive soon?  “My husband and father may send for me to return, but until then, I shall remain on this, well, around here or nearby.” Well, that was probably saying too much.

“Why did they send you away?” the woman asked, barely looking up from her work.

“There was a war… among the Galra and others. I was sent away to protect my baby and a… family treasure.”

“Hmm.” The woman thought, studying the powdered plant. Without looking up, she gestured to her daughter, who sat by her and began to grind the plant as well.”

“What is that?” Synclra asked, hoping it wasn’t rude.

“We are grinding maize. Then we will top the cakes with sunflower seeds.” Yuul said after a pause, likely realizing she was serious. “Wait, have you never had maize?”

“No, nor sunflowers, though they look lovely.” she replied quietly, examining the bright, pointy yellow flowers Yuul’s mother had just placed on the floor.

“Dust your hands off in that bowel.” She instructed. “I will show you how, and we will make Piki.”

Synclra nodded, then knelt by a stone. The kernels of maze where places on it, and she began to grind them with her stone.

“We will have to tell the Ba Gmolva, and they will ask the chieftan, and we will see if you can stay with us.”

“Mother, you do think they will allow Synclra to stay, right? She is to have a baby!”

“I think so, but it is important to ask… the Great Cat spitting out an Coyote woman? This could be a message, and I’d rather have some preparation if we are to move to the fifth earth!”

Synclra was puzzled, but both women sent her kind looks before working, and she took a deep breath. Things would work out fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AYE some real action going on! Don't forget to review or leave a kudos if you liked it, and I will see you next time!  
> Oh and fyi, the Havasupai people call themselves the Havsuwʼ Baaja.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aponi meets Team Voltron and reunites with someone she once considered a little brother. She is unsure of how to hide the private, nigh-sacred locket from the others, just as Syncla and her new family members must hide from the Hai-ko traveling to their new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to post this yesterday, but it slipped by me! To make up, I'll post another tomorrow! I haven't seen all of season five, but I know this will get less and less canon compliant as it goes on. Please do not say any spoilers in the reviews, as a curtesy to me and other readers. I plan to space out my first viewing of this season, then watch it again in one go. I'm so excited!  
> Anyway, enjoy this instalment of Lions, Lockets, and Legacy Knifes!

**Chapter 2**

* * *

 

_Present- Lower Deck, Castle of Lions_

* * *

 

Aponi pressed herself again the wall of the shuttle, trying to slow her heartbeat.

Calm down, calm down. You only go sucked through a portal and now a big strange space ship with two lions that match the blue one scooped you up. She braced herself, then turned to the front window, thanking whoever had built this shuttle that the glass was one way.

Outside, a small group of people were forming. They seemed to be wearing some sort of space suit, each white and another color. Their helmets only covered their eyes. She leaned a little closer. Two more people in suits where coming in a doorway, followed by third figure- that made six in total. The last one was strange, dressed in some sort of long robe or dress. Like the others, they had a humanoid body. They didn’t look completely human though. She wondered if they all had the pointed ears underneath their helmet.

Hmm… pointed ears… the Space Coyote allegedly had those, but none of these people had dark fur, so that probably wasn’t it.

The figures in spaces suits circled the shuttle, inspecting it. Aponi hoped they wouldn’t try to blow it up with her inside.

Finally, she saw the last two figures- white and black and white and red- make their way to the hatch. Making sure her helmet was on- she didn’t know if there was air on this ship she could breathe- and dark- she wasn’t showing her face if they weren’t- she stood across the hatch, waiting.

Then…

Knock. Knock. Na-Knock-Knock. Knock-Knock!

Was that… did they knock in the “Shave and a haircut- tada!” pattern?

Feeling bit braver, Aponi crossed the shuttle and entered the airlock. Then, she unlocked the hatch.

Taking one last deep breath, she opened it slowly.

The two figures grinned at each other, then turned to her. Up close, they looked like they could definitely be human.

The tall one in the black spoke first.

“Hello. Can you understand us?”

She nodded.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

She opened her moth to answer, then stopped. Spreading her arms wide, she shrugged. She had no idea why they had taken her into their ship, or why there had been a weird portal at all.

“Can you take off your helmet?” he asked.

She stared at him, not sure how to respond.

“There’s oxygen here, you’ll be able to breath.” He promised.

Sighing, and offering one last prayer, Aponi placed her hands on her helmet, cleared it, and took it off.

She did not instantly die from a vacuum or poisonous gas, so that was good.

The tall figure smiled, taking off his own helmet- and oh my goodness, was that Takashi Shirogane?!?

She gasped.

“Captain Shirogane? I- How- What are you- why…. Where am I?” she finally decided to ask, confusion buzzing around her head.

Shirogane laughed awkwardly. “Uh, yeah, you can call me Shiro. We intercepted your ship because it was giving out a Glara signal.”

Aponi furrowed her brows. “You’re not dead.” She stated helpfully. And he also knew about the Coyote Aliens- he even called them Galra! “Am I dead?” maybe she was hallucinating, the dream pulling up every face or name she remembered and stitching them together. Like how the red guy almost looked like what Keith might look like now. And why she was seeing a man who had died en route to Kerberos.

Hallucination Shiro smiled faintly. “You aren’t dead. This is the Castle of the Lions, home to the Paladins of Voltron. The Galra are a people attempting to take over the galaxy. We are going stop them.”

“You might not be dead, but I think I see an angel.” A voice called over. She turned, to see the boy in the blue suit walking towards them, smiling widely.

“Lance.” Everyone sighed at once. Ok, so Blue was named Lance. Black was Shiro. Red looked like Keith’s mom but not. Green kind of looked like another person she had seen somewhere- on tv maybe? Yellow she didn’t recognize, and maybe the one in the dress was a twisted memory of an old Zelda game? Or that really underrated Disney movie?

“Anyway, do you know why a Galra signal was coming from your shuttle?” Shiro asked.

“Uhhh… No?” Well, it might have something to do with the datastream from her locket, now tucked away under her suit. But could she tell a hallucination that? She wasn’t supposed to be playing the datastream anyway…

“Maybe we should let her rest before we question her.” Red said, before taking of his helmet, and-

“Keith?” she asked, confused. It did look a lot like him.

“Yeah. Do I… know you?” he asked, thinking.

Aponi threw her arms around him. For a hallucination, he felt very real.

“Oh, we were all so worried about you! Last year Baanahmida tells me you leave the Garrison, and don’t visit, the next thing I know you end up taking a Kachina Totem into space!”

Keith’s eyebrows furrowed. “Baanahmida?” he gasped. “Aponi?”

Aponi laughed. “I haven’t seen you in so long, why didn’t you visit?”

“I… couldn’t visit, at the garrison. And after I left, I did go to Mida. She said you were out of town.”

“Yeah, it was Izzi’s birthday. But after that, why didn’t you stay?”

Keith looked away, and Aponi sighed. Of course, the Reservation reminded him of his mother.

“I- I was needed somewhere else.” He said instead.

Lance cleared his throat. “So, introductions?”

“Oh, right. Guys, this is- uh, which name would you prefer?” he asked.

“April. April Wescoga, please.” She said, using her Anglo name as she typically did off the Reservation.

“Right. She’s from the Havasupai Reservation, where I, um, lived as a kid.”

“A pleasure to meet you, April.” Lance said, taking her hand and smiling at her. Wait. Was he flirting? “The name’s Lance.”

“Hi Lance.” She said absently. Yeah, he was trying flirt.

This was beginning to seem less and less like a hallucination.

“Shiro?” asked the Princess Zelda looking one. “May I talk to you?”

“Of course.” He moved to talk to her by the doorway.

Aponi turned to Keith. “This… this isn’t a dream, is it.”

Keith frowned. “I’m afraid not, Ape.”

* * *

 

_Unknown Past- Havasupai Reservation_

* * *

 

“Ahh!” Synclra cried out. Yuul rubbed her shoulders, trying to soothe her friends.

“Not much longer now, then you can push.” Gsayo, Yuul’s mother, said.

Of course, no one knew completely what they were doing, but they were trying. They had to, Synclra though a bit bitterly, for her baby’s sake.

“Oh! I see it crowning!” the midwife said.

“Syn, push.” Yu agreed, turning back to the mother to be.

Oh, Marmora was never going to hear the end of this for missing this, Synclra thought as she squeezed Yuul’s hand and pushed. 

* * *

 

Her daughter was wrapped gently in a cloth and hander to her. Smiling through the exhaustion, Synrca took the baby and laid back.

“Tea?” Yuul offered.

“Thank you.”

“Synclra… what are the naming traditions for the Galra?” her friend asked hesitantly.

“What do you mean?” Syn asked, confused. She didn’t know if there was a way to naming Galra children, Marmora had never said anything. On Altea it was decided by the two parents. On Nalquod the father decided for a girl and the mother if a boy.

“On the twentieth day after birth, the father picks a name, here.” Yuul said.

“Ah. And you are worried because none of my… husband’s family is here.” Synclra understood. None of them may even still live, she’s added to herself, before focusing on the babe in her arms. Don’t think like that, she told herself.

Yuul nodded.

“Well, as I am the only family of my husband here, I suppose I will think of a baby name. I have twenty days.” She tried to joke.

But deep down, she already knew what she would name her.

Marmora.

* * *

 

_Present- Castle of the Lions_

* * *

 

Shiro had expected something to go wrong as soon as Keith and pointed out the Havasupai flag on the shuttle. When the pilot had turned out to be a civilian girl looking for him, he knew it had.

Had the signal been a mistake? Was this a trap? Had the Galra already gotten to earth?

April or whatever her name was seemed confused… was it at the sight of a well know dead man in space, or a result of Galra brain washing?

On the other hand, her memory seemed sound and there wasn’t anything else suspicious about her. And Keith knew her and trusted her, so that was also good.

Or bad, if the Galra had made it to earth.

But they would have known if they had before now, right?

He could only hope so.

“Do you trust her?“ Allura whispered when they were a suitable distance away.

“I don’t know. I want to search the shuttle before we decide anything.” He said.

“Right. And Shiro?”

“Yeah?”

“What does it mean, that she is having some pay?”

“Oh, Havasupai is the name of a people who live near where we all trained at the Garrison. It’s a tribe indigenous to America. Keith lived on Havasupai lands growing up.” He paused. “Well, for a bit anyway. He doesn’t talk about it much. I think one of his parents were Havasupai?” he shook his head. “You should ask him.”

Allura smiled sadly. “I don’t know if he would talk about it, to me. But thank you.”

They made their way back to the shuttle.

“Miss Wescoga, would you mind if we searched your ship for whatever was emitting Galra signals?” he asked.

The girl shrugged. “Um, go right ahead. It’s mostly just some of my clothes and rations though.”

Shiro just nodded, and motioned for Lance, Pidge and Hunk to follow him on board.

“Ah, why does Keith get to talk to her?” Lance complained.

“Because he actually knows her.” Shiro said.

“Oh, she has actual food! From Earth!” Hunk said excitedly as he looked through the vacuum pouches of oatmeal, noodles, soup, and other just-add-water meals.

“Could any of these computers send out the Glara signal, pidge?” Shiro asked, holding out the datascreen and pointing to the controls.

“Maybe.” Pidge began to fiddle with the devices, tracking the signals on her own portscreen.

“Oh! She had peanut butter and tortillas too!” Lance said excitedly.

“Please don’t take her food. We are looking for whatever sent that signal.”

“I don’t think it was this.” Pidge pointed to the datascreen tablet. “It might have been the ship’s consoles itself, I’d have to take a deeper look.” She fixed her glasses. “We should also consider it might be something she had on her.”

Shiro frowned. “Right. Pidge, how would you ask her if that was the case?"

“I could talk to her.” Lance suggested.

“No.” Shiro and Pidge said together.

Pidge looked back at Shiro. “I don’t know, I might ask her if she has any personal comm or device that might have been tampered with.”

Shiro nodded. “Right, you go do that.”

“Why can’t I-“ Lance began.

“Because you don’t need to ask her anything else about what she might or might not be wearing on her.” Pidge stated, and she left the shuttle.

Hunk held up a bag of powdered eggs. “Do you think she’d give us some of this?”

“Maybe if _I_ asked.” Lance said sassily.

Hunk laughed, and Shiro shook his head.

“Alright guys, there is nothing in the shuttle that we can find. Hunk, leave the food here.” He shepherded them out of the ship.

Outside, April was shaking out of the space suit, revealing a typical earthen outfit on underneath. Jeans,  a soft blue long sleeve t-shirt. Shiro was glad that it seemed the hadn’t been away from Earth long enough for the fashions to drastically change. Holding up the space suit, April handed it to Pidge to inspect.

“Yeah, right here.” She unclipped a comm from her belt. “and my personal comm.” She got to work on taking off the thick gloves and boots, and the thin fabric collar that held her hair down. Pulling her dark braid over one shoulder, she flicked a necklace out of her shirt.

She made to hid it under her blouse, but Shiro had seen a familiar sigil on the purple stone.

“What’s that?” he asked.

April looked up, startled. “Um, this?” she tucked it back under her shirt. “It’s a locket. I got it from my grandmother.”

“Can I see it?” he asked.

April’s frowned deepened, and interestingly, so did Keith’s. “Um, its… sacred.” She said softly.

“Sacred?”

“Yeah, it’s sort of important.” She looked at Keith.

“Yeah, it’s been in her family forever.” He agreed. “I remember Baanahmida wore it all the time- wait, when did she pass it on to you?”

“16th birthday.”

“Can I see it?” Shiro asked Keith this time. The younger boy saw how serious his leader was, and nervously turned to April.

“Can he? Baanahmida didn’t keep it hidden, but if it’s that important…”

April sighed, unlatching the locket. “Fine.” She held it out to Shiro by the chain. He grabbed the purple stone and flipped it over. On the other side was a Galra symbol.

“Where did you get this?” he asked, voice low.

“I told you, it’s my grandmother’s.” She rolled her eyes.

“No.” Shiro looked at her, narrowed her eyes. “Where did you get it?”

April swallowed. “It’s sacred. When our- my people, the Havasupai, migrated to the Reservation thousands of years ago, they found the Great Blue Lion. That stone was one of the things there as well. It had been passed down through my family ever since.”

Keith frowned. “You knew about the Lion?”

“Yes. It’s not as important to the whole tribe now, many things aren’t, but every year Baanahmida and I still travel to the Lion. We haven’t forgotten it.”

Keith nodded, looking back at the locket.

“Was there anything else?”

“What?”

“Was there anything else like that around the Blue Lion, like any other artifacts?” April only shrugged.

“Can you open it?” Shiro asked her.

April went white. “I- I can.” She said carefully. He handed the necklace back to her. “But not in front of you.”

Shiro froze, wary. “April, we need to see what’s inside.”

“It’s sacred.” She said, nervous. “I… I could show Keith. But none of you.”

Shiro frowned, and looked at Allura. She also found this suspicious. April definitely know more about the locket than she was letting on.

“Fine. Show Keith.”

April looked at Keith, then back around the room. She didn’t meet Shiro’s eyes. “Like, here, or?”

“No. Keith, show her somewhere.” He waved the out of the room.

Keith laid his hand on April’s shoulder and they made their way to his room.

* * *

  _Unknown Past- Havasupai Reservation_

* * *

 “Lalli! Lalli!” Marmora called. Most Havsuw’ Baaja children called their parent by their name, but Synclra had raised her daughter to call her by the typical Nalquod term. Of course, even adults Nalquins tended to call their parents by their given name, so the fact that Marmora had used the nickname now was strange. Synclra ran to the door way to see her.

“Yes, Mora?”

“I was speaking to Tsai-tiwa, who was with the Ba Gmolva, and he said that there are Haygu coming to the village!”

“Oh, not Apache or yavapai?”

“No, no, the Hai-ko.”

“They are not attacking, are they?”

“We hope not, they want to negotiate peace.” Both women were unconvinced of that. If the Hai-ko found any silver or anything precious on their land… well they didn’t know what would happen. Marmora continued. “What the Ba Gmolva are more concerned about is… if they see us.”

Synclra looked between her daughter, then over to a corner of her room where her young grandson sat playing with a corn husk horst.

“They will think we are… demons?” she asked slowly.

“Yes. Perhaps we could hide while they are here, but the Ba Gmolva fear riling the Hai-ko up.”

“I understand. When will they arrive?”

“Perhaps three days.”

Synclra nodded. “Alright. Tell your husband that tomorrow, you, I, and Isa will be going to the Great Cat.”

“Ok, but why are we seeing Blue?”

“To try to find help, or at the least, prepare a place for us to hide when the Hai-ko are here.”

* * *

**Translations: _Havsuw’ Baaja_ is how the Havasupai refer to themselves.**

**_Ba Gmolva_ is the term for the governing council of the tribe.**

**_Haygu_ is the term for outsiders or enemies. Traditionally, the Apache and Yavapai were antagonistic toward the Havasupai, unlike the Hopi or Hualapai peoples.**

**_Hai-ko_ is their term for white people, in this case Americans hoping to travel through/trade with/take land from the Haasupai. The exact intent this time doesn't matter much in this story.**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of Synclra's story leads to the beginning of Keith's as the Team decides what to do, while dealing with homesickness, stubborn overprotectiveness, and distrusting worry.

**CHAPTER 3**

* * *

_Unknown Past, Havasupai Reservation_

* * *

 

At dawn the next day, Tsai-tiwa, Marmora, and Isa met with Synclra and headed for the cavern of the Great Cat.

“I have never been here.” Tsai-tiwa told his wife.

“Neither have I, but Sync and Yuul have told me stories.” Marmora smiled.

After Synclra had been welcomed into the Havsuwʼ Baaja, the leaders of the Ba Gmolva felt it best to not send as many people to the Great Cat. Synclra was the message the Cat had intended to convey, and they would know when they needed to return. Synclra felt one of those times was now.

The crawled into the cavern, and Synclra wondered why it felt so new. Had Blue always been so big? Or now, did she seem a bit small?

“Hello, Blue.” she said, reaching up a hand to the lion’s mouth.

The eyes flicked yellow, and Synclra spoke in Altean for the first time in decades.

“I need help. A way to disguise my family on this planet.”

The gold light seeped from the Lions eyes in two stream that fell down her nose. Her mouth cracked open, and a small vial of glowing yellow fell out. Synclra caught it, quickly filling it with the gold liquid.

“Thank you, Blue.”

A warm purr answered her, then the lion sat back away from the pilgrims. A blue holoshield surrounded it.

Synclra hadn’t expected that. She blinked back tears as she turned around.

“What does that mean, Lalli?”

“It means, Marmora, that Blue has finally gone fully to sleep. She will not awaken until another Paladin worthy of her arrives.”

“Then… we will never go back, will we?” Back? Back to a planet, a people, a family, a father she had never met? Never seen but the one picture in all the data in her mother’s locket she had seen? Never known but in stories, late at night in her mother’s arms as a child, feeling her warmth and sometimes, her tears against her cheek? It almost was a ridiculus question for her to ask. But it wasn’t, and the weight sat heavy on both women’s shoulders.

“Mo… I don’t think we ever were.” Synclra sighed.

Marmora nodded, blinking a tear from her eye. Tsai-tiwa laid a hand on her shoulder. She smiled at him, and Synclra knew her daughter would not be too disappointed, her home- her family- was in this village, not out in the galaxy. Looking at her grandchild, little Isa, Syn took a moment to grieve for her husband, who wasn’t. Isa caught her eye and waves at her, totally innocent and ignorant of what was happening. Syn almost laughed, and remembered her family was here now too, and she let go. Not of her memories, not even of her longing, but of her grief.

She studied the bottle Blue had bestowed. It shimmered with a glow that almost reminded her of an Altean’s quintessence. Unstopping it, she places a drop on her hand.

The skin it touched began to change, from her blue to a brown typical of a Havasupai human. She spread the drop, until her hands looked totally earthen.

“Marmora, come here.”

Synclra turned the glowing vial over Mo’s head, and her fur shortened, ears flattened, and hair darkened. Tsai-tiwa and Synclra helped rub it down her arms and legs, amazed at how much a small amount could cover.

Then it was Isa’s turn, though he didn’t seem to enjoy it as much.

When they were done, the only sign any of them weren’t completely human was their eyes- which had gone from a pale yellow to the purple of their old Galra skin.

“Am I even more beautiful now, ‘Tiwa” Mo joked.

“You could never be more beautiful, you were already perfect.” He leaned up to kiss her on her forehead.

“Oh, so now I am ugly.”

“No, still perfect. Just different. Although, I do not know how I will explain this to the others- or Paya.” Paya was Tsai-tiwa’s second wife, a humorous woman who excelled in medicine.

“Don’t bother,” Synclra laughed. “I will tell them. Now let’s hurry, I wanted to make Paatupsuki for dinner tonight.”

Laughing, the others clamored up out of the cave. Synclra stopped for a moment, turning and looking at the last symbol of her father and their people.

“Goodbye.” She whispered, before leaving the cave, never to return.

The change in the women and Isa’s appearance was never explained, though it did earn Tsai-tiwa the nick name of Walusgabii Two years later, Marmora would have a baby girl with tan skin, purple eyes, and silky black hair. This daughter, named Kitef, would eventually be raised by her Gilalli, Synclra, after her parents and older brother were killed. Paya, too grief stricken at being unable to heal her husband, his wife, or their child, did not protest. Kitef would be given the Galran dagger, and grow up playing next to Yuul’s grandchildren, the middle girl of which would eventually inherit a purple locket- the Glaran datascrean in disguise.

For generations after, the line of Yuul would safe guard the locket and keep the memory of the cave of the great cat alive, as well as bear the responsibility of watching Synclra’s line.

Eventually, an Coyote girl named after Yuul would fall for a Texan man of Korean decent (Mr. Kogane had traveled the world, including a notable stint in Japan, but that’s a story for another day)

They would move to a small Texan cabin, but would stay the summer on the Reservation of Yuul’s- who preferred her Anglo name “Yasmin”- childhood. Eventually, they would even bring their son, Keith.

Sadly, the Coyote line was always a sad, short one- rarely two children survived a generation, but at least one always did- and Mr. Kogane died when his son was 9 years old. Yasmin and Keith stayed out in Texas for three years, before she vanished- walked out.

Keith stayed that first summer on the Reservation, but spent most of his time working on his application to the Galaxy Garrison. He was granted permission to board as a junior student, living in the barracks with other gifted students. While there, he met Takashi Shirogane, who’s face seemed almost familiar to the grieving boy. (but again, a story for another day)

* * *

 

_Present- Keith’s room_

* * *

 

“What’s in the locket?” he asked.

“Do you have the dagger?” she asked instead. His heart stilled.

“Uh, what?”

“You asked if there was anything else they found by the lion. Do you have the dagger?”

“Yeah.” Keith said quietly, pulling it out from a sheath he wore at the back of his belt.

“Good. Alright, you aren’t going to like this, but here.” April opened the locket up, and a holoscreen appeared. Keith’s eyes widened.

April handed it to him. “Watch.”

* * *

 

_“Hello. My name is Synclra. This locket is a gift to my dear friend, Yuul. Yuul, I am entrusting this datastream to you and your family. Inside is more information on my people, the Star Coyote, or as we call ourselves: Galra. I am loading these stories here for my children need them. For now, they cannot know the truth. They would be in danger. But someday, there may be a return of the Lions, or else a Galra attack. If- when either happens, and I pray it is the first, bring the locket to my son- or his son, if that is the case. He will have a dagger that will open the rest of the information. Until then… please take care of the Lion. Thank you, my Friend.”_

* * *

 

“Yuul was my mom’s Havasupai name, wasn’t it?” Keith asked.

“Yeah, she was named after Synclra’s friend.”

“And the dagger…” he said softly.

“Passed down Synclra’s family for generations. It… it will open the rest of the data stream, if you want.”

Keith hesitated. “Yeah, but…” his hands shook.

“Do you want to talk about something else for a while instead?” Aponi asked.

Keith just nodded numbly.

“Well, Izzi has turned 11 years old, and she is already excitedly anticipating her Maturity Ceremony.”

“Oh yeah, you must have, um, have you had yours?”

“Yeah, on my 16th.”

“Nice! Ya’ know, that means whether you go by Aponi or April you can now have the pick of the villiage! Maybe-“

“Don’t say Lorenzo.”

“I wasn’t” he totally was. “But, I’m still probably going to call you Ape. Uh, if you don’t mind.”

Aponi smiled. “Not at all, Kii’lutha.”

Keith groaned. “That wasn’t ever actually my name.”

“Yeah, but don’t you think it fits you?”

“No.” They had never actually told him what it meant. That was, um, for a reason.

Lutha was short for Waluthama, which meant ‘that guy who fires off’, and while they had gotten away with it when they were younger, Keith was adamantly not going to answer to it now.

“Don’t worry, ever since you left, Baanahmida has taken to calling you Pahana!” Aponi had told her to stop being so dramatic, though she had to admit that the borrowed term for ‘Lost White Brother’ might describe Keith the next time they met when he was done with the Garrison. She was pleased that it did not.

“No!” Keith groaned. “Oh, I hope that doesn’t stick.”

“Maybe if you visited more, she wouldn’t have reason to call you that.”

“Oh, couldn’t you have just kept it to Haygu? I know some of the adults used to call me that.”

Aponi smirked. “Do you know what Haygu means?”

“No, no one would ever tell me.”

“I didn’t think so. And they were actually calling your father that, so. No, I think Kii’lutha is just going to have to stick.”

Keith sighed. “Just ‘cause its like my real name. Thanks.”

“Your Anglo name.” Aponi corrected. “Although, if you did come back, I think Baanahmida wouldn’t mind giving you a real Havasupai name.”

“Like what?” Keith asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe Baa Gŧgoohva.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Yeah, much better than Waluthama. You don’t fly of the handle, you just stumble into your girlfriends-

“Wait, you knew?”Aponi asked, going pale. She was going to kill Lorenzo, or Suwja, or whoever had told him what the name meant. And whoever told him the lewd tale, she added.

Keith was grinning now though. “Yeah, I knew.” He looked down. “Thanks.” His gaze fell on the dagger in his lap.

“Are you ready now?” she asked gently.

“As I’ll ever be.” Carefully picking up the dagger, he unwrapped the hilt, revealing a stone like the one in the open locket.

He held it up to the holoscreen. The light went from blue to red, then a new clip played.

Synclra spoke. “Hello, my child. You have used the dagger to open the locket, so I know you must be in need of information about the Glara, or the Star Coyote as our new people call us. I have split the data up. I hope you find what you need.” The holoscreen showed 6 different clips to watch. Keith hesitated, he couldn’t read any of the words underneath them, then selected the first one.

* * *

 

Allura crossed her arms. “So, that girl is in possession of a Galran artifact.”

“Yep.” Pidge didn’t look up from her datascreen.

“And she won’t show it to us.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And don’t you find that a little bit suspicious?”

“Allura.” Pidge sighed, finally looking away. “She doesn’t understand what the Galra are. To her, it’s a sacred artifact of her own people. And we did sort of kidnap her, so there is that.”

Allura hummed, crossing her arms, but didn’t say anything. The girl had been too shaken when Shiro had pointed it out, especially with how cool she pretended to be afterwards with talking about it.

“Keith did also vouch for her.” Hunk pointed out. Allura furrowed her brow- hadn’t Keith also been surprised she had it- and hadn’t that made the Earthen girl nervous too? She had played it off, but Allura had watched her eyes. Even as she shrugged it off, the lines around her eyes gave away her fear.

“Yeah, what was with that?” Lance asked. Perhaps, the princess thought, April had not been given it by her grandmother, but had taken it sometime before her journey to look for Keith?

“I mean, I didn’t know he was Native American- he’s so pale!” Lance continued.

“He might not be full blooded. Or maybe he’s just got lighter skin.” Pidge rolled her eyes. “And besides, it’s not like we regularly discuss our bloodlines in full when meeting each other.”

Had she taken it for the journey out to space for good luck, to aide her in finding her friend? That could be possible.

“You know I’m Cuban and Hunk’s Samoan.” Lance protested.

“Yes, but you have no idea which European country I’m from. Besides, I know that because you have pictures of your family and talk about them a lot.”

Although Allura was still too much in the dark for her liking.  Why on earth would the Galra locket even be near the blue lion? Hadn’t the paladin for that been Sir Blaytz? He hadn’t been Galran, she was sure.

“Yeah- but, oh that’s not the point. And how do you know he’s part Havasupai?”

“Shiro’s a family friend, he talked about Keith a lot. Usually around the holidays, which he spent with us.”

“Yeah, Keith always said he would spend the holidays with some relatives he had on the Reservation.” Shiro said, thinking back. “Course, it turned out he didn’t go and stayed at the Garrison.” He frowned. “Allura, are you alright?”

“Huh?” she hadn’t been paying attention to the paladin’s conversation.

“You’re going to wear a hole in the floor with your pacing.” Shiro grinned.

“Yes, I am just thinking. Why would there have been a Galran device near the blue lion?”

“I don’t know, I was wondering about that. The blue paladin then hadn’t been Galran, right?”

“No, he was Nalqui.” Allura pulled up an image of him.

“Hmm. You don’t think it was some sort of tracking device then? Planted there before it made it to earth?”

“It could have been, but it must have not worked if the Galra never found earth.”

“They were getting close.” Shiro reminded her. “But you’re right, it couldn’t have been from the locket.”

Allura nodded, turning to pull up another map. “Maybe it was, hmm, it has to be something!”

Shiro caught her hand.

“Princess, we’ll figure it out. First, let’s just wait for Keith and April, once we have that information we can work it out.”

Allura sighed slowly, letting a tired smile settle on her lips. “Alright.”

“-do that! Shiro, what do you think?” Lance asked.

“Huh?” the pair turned, hands dropping quickly. Why hadn’t she noticed he had still had her hand in his?

“I said, Shiro, what do you think of the fact the Keith-“

The doors opposite them began to slide open. The room fell quiet as Keith and April walked in. Keith seemed tired, arms folded in quiet thought. April was biting her lip.

“So?” Lance broke the silence. “What was in the locket, Keith?”

Keith looked back at April, who had tucked her locket back under her shirt. She nodded at him.

“You were right, there are some files on the Galra I used to use my comp to find. Pidge, do you think you could unlock them?” he pushed some holofiles over to the youngest paladin, who began to look at the encriptions.

“So, April. Tell me a bit about yourself.” Lance smiled at her, holding out a hand. “We never properly were introduced.”

April smiled thinly. “Thanks Lance. I don’t know, I’m just… there was more in the locket than what I thought I knew. I guess I just miss home a little bit.”

Lances smile fell a little, become less flirtasious, but more genuine. “Tell me about it. You have a big family?”

“A bit. Two older sisters and a younger brother.” She sat down on a bench, lance and Keith quietly joining her. “My oldest sister, Dia, is married, has a cute little girl named Izzy. Kara is in med school in LA. Silas still lives at home with my parents and grandmother. What about you?”

“Oh yeah, a huge family. Mama and Aubela, four older sisters and two younger, an older brother. Many cousins and nieces and nephews.” Lance smiled at the memories. “Aubella and us lived in the same house, back in Cuba, Uncle Javier lived next door. My other aunts and uncles lived pretty close too. We always had Sunday dinner together.”

“What kind of food?”

“Oh ya’know, all kinds. Sometimes rice and beans, usually with Mojito chicken or boliche. My favorite was when she made Italian though. She made this wicked good spaghetti sause, and I love garlic knots. I can't forget about the deserts, especially the dulce de leche.”

“Mmm, delisioso.” April smiled.

“Si.” Lance agreed. “Birthdays where always big too, Aubella always made tres leches. I loved that stuff.” He sighed, looking away. “Of course, what I wouldn’t give for even a good old tortilla, fresh and hot.”

April became thoughtful, looking back toward her ship.

“Whatever. After the war. I don’t love the space food, but at least it is nutritious. And we get fresh milk now.”

“Tortillas. I assume you meant the good corn stuff?” April said, standing.

“Of course, none of that nonsense flour tortillas.” Lance scoffed.

April made for the shuttle and began to go through her food supplies.

“it’s not the best, it is made for space, but it’s a good old corn tortilla.” She pulled out a foiled package. “I, um, actually have a few homemade blue corn tortillas left too.”

Lance looked at her. “Your grandmother made those, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, she did. How’d you know?”

“That’s what grandmothers do. Aubela always asks me to make sure to tell her when I go on a real flight so she can make some real food for me to take, not dehydrated garrison rations.” He smiled, then shook his head. “Keep those. But maybe one of your ration one?”

April handed him the foiled tortilla.

He took it excitedly, running to heat it up.

“Shouldn’t you be saving those? You'll need them for your flight back home.” Keith said.

April looked at him. “Keith… I don’t think ill be going home for a while, will I?”

Keith looked away, then shook his head, gaze hardening. “No. You are getting home safe.”

“But those videos we watched- what you must have seen- there’s a war going on!”

“And you won’t be a part of it. Shiro!”

Shiro, Pidge, and Allura all turned. “Yeah?” the leader asked.

“When can we send April home? We have everything from the locket. It’s not safe for her to be here much longer. Besides, we still need to contact the Blade of Marmora.”

Shiro nodded. “Of course. April, I’m sorry we didn’t think of that sooner. Princess, when do you think well be able to send her home?”

“No.” April said harshly. “Captain Shirogane, I cant go home now. Keith told me of the Galra empire- I cant ignore that now.”

“Ape, c’mon, there's nothing you can do about that, and-“

“Except lead them straight to earth.” April rolled her eyes. “Princess, can you guarantee that the Galra wouldn’t be able to trace me through that wormhole and find Earth?” Allura looked at Coran, then Shiro.

“I do not know. It is certainly possible, especially if you take that locket with you and they get a signal.” They probably couldn't, especially if April kept the locket shut, but the Team didn't know that, and they did know not to underestimate the Galra's abilities, especially when it came to tracking.

“Then no.”

“Ape, please.”

“Keith… I can't lead this army to earth, if they looked for clues to the lions, if they found the cave, or my grandmother, or me… I cant let that happen.”

“Then we deactivate the locket, or you don’t take it with you.” Keith said, spreading his arms.

“Its sacred!”

“Its alien technology!”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t! I can't return home without it!”

“Aponi, please!” Keith yelled, grabbing her shoulders. “You are more important than the locket, your safety is more important. Please. Go back home.”

“Oh, Keith.” April burst into tears, pulling her friend in. Keith held her, rubbing her back.

Allura and Shiro looked at each other, lost at what to do.

“We have to send her back.” Shiro started.

“But you don’t want to send the Galra straight to earth.” Allura guesed.

“Yeah.” He groaned, tugging at his hair with his hand. “If we could just get a way to ensure she couldn’t be tracked, ug, and we just solved the problem with the Black Lion- wait.” He turned suddenly to Pidge, who was ignoring the emotion others and scanning though the Galra data. “Pidge, would any of the cloaking tech Ulaz had help us with this?”

“Well, yeah.” She adjusted her glasses, sparing a quick glance at Keith and April, who were trying to stop her tears and talk simultaneously. “But I don’t think I could manufacture that with what we have here. The Blade of Marmora might help us with materials. Ya'know, if we ever get there.” She tilted her head around them, indicating their delays.

Shiro and Allura looked at each other.

“I really don’t want to risk the data we just got.” Allura said. “We wanted to meet them for information, which we have now.”

“Maybe- but not all. The Galran locket couldn’t have been completely up to date. And we wanted their aid as well.”

Allura sighed- the others might have wanted the Galrans aid, and Shiro certainly did, but the Princess had no desire for it.

“Look, it is the quickest way to synthesize the data we have and create a plan to stop Zarkon.”

“I know, and we have been planning on heading there since you stopped the Galra from tracking us- wait. What if they track the locket and find the Blade?”

“As long as the locket is in the castle, they wont be able to track it.” Pidge said confidently. 

“Fine.” Allura took a deep breath, and turned to address the others. “We will be heading to Blade of Marmora’s headquarters. We will offer an alliance. Hopefully, they will have a way to cloak the locket’s signal. Then, we will send April back to Earth. I th- Wait. April, when you go back, would you mind taking some information back to Earth? So that your planet had means to defend itself should the Galra attack?”

April’s eyes widened, then she nodded resolutely. Keith stifled a small sigh of relief next to her.

“Alright. That’s our plan. Oh, and at some point, we will get around to defeating Zarkon.” She joked. Shiro and Pidge gave tense smiles and half laughs.

“Yeah.” Allura agreed, before going to the control deck. “Lets go.”


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As April gets to know the rest of Team Voltron, Keith and Shiro talk things over in between a black hole and a blue star. And another black hole. While in a small metal red flying lion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally finished season five! This story wont have spoilers for it, an I ask you don't mention them in the comments. HOWEVER, there WILL BE some discussion of SPOILERS for SEASON 5 EP 5 in the NOTES at the END of the CHAPTER. you have been warned.

* * *

 

_Present- Castle of the Lions_

* * *

 

“It’s a lot less scary when you know what’s going on.” April whispered to Keith as their alien princess guided them through the worm hold. He nodded.

“Yeah, the first time we went through one it was in the blue lion, none of us knew what was going on.” Keith smirked. “It didn’t help that Lance was the one driving.”

“And I was doing amazing.” The other boy protested. “You should have seen me, Angel.”

“It’s pronounced April, actually.”

Lance sighed, but was distracted from another attempt at flirting by Hunk.

“So, do you think that the base will be more of a space burrito, or a space dumpling?”

“Oh, you're making me hungry! But probably a- holy quiznac! Is that a black hole?”

April would have asked what a ‘quiznac’ was, but she was distracted by the sight in front of them.

“Actually, it’s two black holes.” The tall red haired man with the moustache answered.

“And a blue star.” Pidge said. “Inside a black hole, the temperature is one millionth of a degree above absolute zero. But, just outside of that, it's hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius.”

“Okay,” Hunk reasoned. “it's like when you try to nuke a frozen burrito in the microwave, and it comes out all scorching hot on the outside, but it's still frozen in the middle, right?” that comparison seemed sound to April.

Lance complained. “Now, I'm hungry for lunch!”

“Guys, focus!” Keith snapped. “Coran, where's the base located?”

Coran brought up a screen focusing on a small object orbiting the star. “In between those three deadly celestial objects.”

“The perfect defensive position.” Pidge reasoned.

“Or the perfect trap.” Said the one who looked like princess Zelda. April couldn’t blame her, the weapons she had seen when Keith unlocked the locket were scary enough… and this was beyond any of those.

“Yeah, I'm with Allura. Maybe we shouldn't, like, go in there at all?” Hunk reasoned, voice shaking slightly. Allura! That was the space princess’s name.

“What are you talking about?” Keith demanded. April shot him a worried look, which he shrugged off. “We have to go in! This is the whole reason we came out here! There is no other option!” April wondered if the datastream had freaked him out too. Or maybe it was more about meeting other Coyote- er, Galra. Ones that weren't trying actively to kill him.

“Okay. Jeez. Calm down.” Lance sighed, but a beeping from the screen stopped Keith's retort.

An electronic voice played over speakers. “Identify yourself.”

Shiro took charge. “Open a hailing frequency, Coran. We are the Paladins of Voltron, sent here by Ulaz.”

The response was quick. “Two may enter. Come unarmed.”

Allura frowned even deeper. “Why would they insist we come unarmed? Shiro, this doesn't feel right.”

“We've come too far to turn back now.” He pointed out.

“They just sent us a route to the base, but we'll have to move quickly. Because of the solar flares, it's only open for maybe 20 doboshes. Then, it will be closed for two quintants.”

April looked at Keith, mouthing “doboshes? Quintant?” he only shrugged.

“They're gonna close it for two what now?” she asked out loud instead.

“Two days.” Pidge clarified. “Well, about 44 hours, actually. And it closes in about 20 minutes. 23 and a bit.”

“Oh”

“So, any thoughts on who's gonna join you on this little mission?” He asked Shiro. “I'm thinking things might get a little hot, so you're gonna want someone who can stay cool.” Keith raised an eyebrow and April giggled.

“You're right.” Shiro agreed, before turning. “Keith, you're coming with me.” April tried to stifle her laughing in a cough.

Lance wasn't amused.

“Keith's a hothead! He's probably going to shoot first and ask questions later! And they're not gonna be able to answer his questions because they'll be dead!” He ranted.

“We haven't yet severed Zarkon's link with the Black Lion, so it has to stay here.” Wait, Zarkon could still use the black lion? Synclra had been quite adamant he had turned his back on Voltron. “And the Red Lion can withstand the heat from that sun. So, yes, it'll be Keith.”

The red haired man rattled off some reasons Shiro and Keith could die. April knew why Keith was itching to go, knew what he was searching for, but that set her on edge.

She pulled him into a hug. “Are you sure you should bring that knife? They said to come unarmed.” She whispered into his ear.

“I have to know, and it is one of their own. They shouldn’t mind.” He whispered back.

“Do you want to take the locket?” she asked louder as she pulled away.

“No.” Keith said sharply, shaking his head. “It’s not- no. besides, they might be more inclined to help us if we have it here, conditionally. Ya know?”

April nodded. That actually did make sense. Don’t put all your cards on the table. “Be safe.”

He nodded, then led Shiro to a platform that lowered. She assumed it would take them to the red lion.

A red lion. She shook her head, trying to imagine the fact that the blue lion had not one, not two, but four sisters. Amazing. And according to Keith, they combined into a giant robot man.

“So, 44 hours until they come back?” she asked, sitting down on the edge of the princess's platform.

“Yep.” Pidge said, tracking the red lion.

“So I guess well have to fill the time.” Lance said, smiling as he sit nest to her. Right next to her. “I’ve got some great stories to tell. How I found the blue lion, or the time we saved Arus, or Allura, the mermaid planet, or-“

“Or bought a cow.” Hunk jabbed.

“You bought a cow?” April asked.

“No. It was free with purchase.” He said primly, shooting a less than prim look at Hunk. “But anyway, lots of stories.” He turned back to April, and tried to slyly put his arm over her shoulder. She smirked, shrugging it off.

“How did you guys find the blue lion? I didn’t think anyone but Baanahmida and I even knew where it was.”

“Oh, well, first we have to talk about how we met- and rescued- Shiro. What happened was…”

* * *

 

Red Lion- En Route to Blade of Marmora Head Quarters

* * *

 

 Shiro leaned over his friend’s shoulder. “Keith, is everything okay?”

“I'm fine.” He said, not very believably.

“You kind of blew up at everybody back there. You'll have to control your emotions if you're going to lead this group someday. But ever since you saw that locket- you’ve been acting pretty tightly strung.”

Keith chuckled a little, trying to change the conversation. “Lead the group?”

“When we were stranded, I told you, if anything ever happens to me, I want you to lead Voltron.”

Oh. “I thought you were just delirious with pain.” Keith said, looked intently out the window. “Why would you make me the leader?”

“Because I know what you're capable of, if you can learn some self-discipline.”

What did that even mean, Keith wondered annoyed. “Why are we even talking about this? Nothing is gonna happen to you.” He wouldn’t let it.

“It's just in case. I need you to get focused. When you and Allura ran off, it put us all in jeopardy. If you're going to be a leader, you've got to get your head on straight.”

“I'm sorry. I've just had a lot on my mind.” And now I have a lot more.

“I know.” Shiro squeezed his shoulder. “We all have, but you more than ever. What is getting to you? I know you’ve been changing the subject-“

The red lion’s alarms blared. They were getting drawn in by one of the black holes!

Keith turned furiously. pushing the red lion to get back in the safe path as fast as she could.

After about one and a third second, but what felt like a lifetime, the pull stopped. Keith stayed on course.

“Good job.” Shiro breathed, then smiled. “You didn’t do that to change the topic too, right?”

Keith spluttered. “No! no I did not! Its just- Shiro, you should know.” He paused, trying to figure out how to say it.

“What is it, Keith?”

“Shiro… I thought for a while that I knew why my mom left.”

“Oh. Ok, why?” this had been something Keith confided in him years ago, in the garrison. He hadn’t spoken of it sense, just mentioned it and how hurt he was. Then tried to bury it again.

“Well, I don’t know anymore. But… Shiro, she wasn’t completely human. And neither and i.”

“Um, ok. Why do you think that?” Shiro asked slowly, trying to figure out how this connected.

“Shiro, I… she- I’m part Galra.” He finally said in a rush.

“Oh. Um, not that I don’t believe you Keith, but you don’t look very… purple.” He said, lightly. Clearly this was something that had really been troubling Keith, but Shiro had no idea why he thought it.

Keith just chuckled, shaking his head. “I know. I’m mostly human, I think. But… I know I have Galra blood. I’ve used their tech before, I… I just know.” He tried not to incriminate Aponi in Shiro’s eyes.

Shiro thought back, then began to nod slowly. “Yeah, you have. Ok, maybe you are part Galra.” Shiro assented. “But Keith, so am I.” he lifted his right, mechanical arm. Keith’s eyes widened, than he nodded, turning away to land the Lion.

* * *

_Castle of the Lions_

* * *

 

Back at the castle, April and team Voltron had begun trading stories of their space adventures for news from earth. Once April had assured that world war 4 had not broken out, that France had a new president but nothing major from any other countries, and that celebrities Ashley Edwards and John London had had a beautiful wedding- and in return, learned of Shiro’s harrowing rescue (or Keith’s mass kidnapping, as she had dubbed it), the time Hunk and Lance saved a planet full of mermaids, and how they got a free cow at a space mall while hunk took over a restaurant- she offered to take news of the paladins to their families.

“Actually, I was wondering if you could maybe take mine a video message of me.” Lance asked, surprisingly timid. April beamed.

“Of course, let me get my datascrean and-“

“Wait.” Pidge said, picking up two round capsules from a stack by her chair. “I’m actually been saving these for that. it’ll let us record messages for our family, we can write our address on it so she knows where to take them!”

“Nice!” Lance said, taking one excitedly. “Um, if you guys don’t mind, ill go somewhere else and-“

Everyone else quickly said they understood, and hunk and pidge also excused themselves to think about what they wanted to record.

April stood up and wandered to the windows, looking out at the view. The blue star glowed brightly, and the dark space abound the black holes unsettled her. She looked out to the side, at the unfamiliar galaxies and colors. This was just a lot to take in. she shook her head, wondering how the others managed it.

“April?” The princess broke the silence.

“Yes?” She turned away from the window.

“How do you know Keith?”

“We knew each other as children, he would spend summers on the Reservation- that’s where I lived.” April shrugged. Well, she still lived there.

“What does it mean, this Reservation?” the other woman- alien?- asked, curious. “I have not learned much about Earth's culture.”

April laughed a little. “It would take you a long time to, your highness, there are many peoples and countries on earth. I’ll try to simplify it though. Um, the paladins all studied at the Galaxy Garrison’s school near the Reservation, in the southwestern part of a country known as the United States of America. The Reservation is the native land of the Havasupai tribe, which is indigenous to the area.”

“The Reservation borders the United States then?”

“Uh, sort of, but not really? Its actually part of it. But, with its own sovereignty. Kinda.” She shook her head. This was complicated enough to explain on Earth, but to an alien who had no previous knowledge of American imperialism? Even harder. “The Reservation is considered a reservation now- there are many reservations, and… oh, its just a lot. My sister or grandmother would probably be able to explain it better. Suffice it to say, Keith’s mother was also from the Reservation, but left when she married his father. But they always visited.” Keith had said he would tell the team about his Galra heritage when he was ready, which she suspected might be never, but it was his call. So, April made sure not to mention it.

“Are these states all co-dependent reservations then?” Allura asked.

“No, the states are just a way of divided government in America-the-country. And it ended up making sure each state had a bit of its own individual culture… and that’s only one country, there are over 200 on earth.”

“200!” Allura gasped. “And, this planet is only inhabited by humans?”

“Um, well there are many species of animals and plants, but humans are the dominant species and probably the only one you would consider really… sentient?” she paused, and Allura seemed to understand what she meant. “Um, I’m assuming most planets out here are really different?”

“Well, most are run by the Galra, now. But before that, yes. I think the Dalterion Belt was home to maybe 11 or 12 different countries, but there were only 5 major ones. Nalquod had 3 countries, and a fourth on their moon. Altea and Daibazaal- my home planet and the Galra’s, respectively- were each one unified country.”

April nodded, but she wondered how long it took those planets to get to that point of unity- or conquest. She didn’t ask.

Turning back to the window, she sighed. “I have no idea what I’m going to tell the Garrison. 'Hello! I went looking for those kids who disappeared in that top-secret thing a few months back, and I found them! But they are in space in a magic castle ship and fighting aliens with a bunch of incredibly advanced lions that combine to make an even cooler robot man! And they need your help, lets build a mech army to defend Earth should the bad aliens get here first!'” Resting her head against the cool glass- wait, was it even glass? What were the windows made of? -  she closed her eyes. “They’ll never believe me.”

The princess hummed, thinking. “We could send you back with enough proof, and perhaps Pidge and Hunk could begin designing things with this Garrison’s resource in mind? And perhaps we could record a message altogether to explain.”

April shrugged. “Yeah, that might work. But, I’m worried about how to get them to even watch it- Shiro was their famous pilot, and when he shows up having escaped capture with a cool alien ship and arm, they don’t listen to him and try to sedate him.” Well, according to Lance, but Hunk and Pidge had agreed. She would need to show up and make them shut up and listen. Like how Baanahmida or this princess did-

She stood straight up, turning quickly. “Your highness, how would you make them listen to you? How would you introduce this to a group of psudomilitary men who don’t think they need to listen to you?”

Allura tilted her head, considering. “Well, I don’t know much about this Garrison, but to put it on some sort of equal ground, I’d make it clear they don’t know anything about the issue- wear armor they can recognize as armor, but is different enough they wouldn’t know exactly what it meant or what it could do. I would make it clear that they would have to listen to me, first, then they could learn about all the tech.”  She thought for a bit, then continued. “The fact is, you need then as much as they need you, but you can’t let them know that. Act as if they didn’t help, you could always deliver the paladin’s news, rally the people of Earth, and give aid to Voltron yourself. You are trying to give them help, not begging for theirs.” She shrugged. “Even if you are.”

April nodded, then smiled. “I think I can do that. Would you help me, er, practice a bit, Princess?”

“Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FINALLY FINISHED IT!!! AHHH!!! Right so here come the Season five spoilers. don't look bellow if you haven't seen it yet.  
> ...  
> ...  
> ...  
> ...  
> this is your final chance to scroll up or click away.  
> you have been warned.  
> ....  
> ....  
> ....  
> ....  
> right, so now that we have (probably) met the closest maternal relative of Keith (thanks DW for cutting the episode off mid-sentence than not giving us any closure in the next and last episode. we really apreciated it.) so,,,, the name i have been using is wrong.  
> OR IS IT?  
> probably, but not in this fic hahaha  
> so, you may have noticed that i said Keith's Havasupai name was Yuul, and her Anglo name was Yasmin.  
> Well, her Galra name is gonna be Krolia.  
> yeah ok at this point ill stop bing coy. you meet keiths mom in s5e5. if you didnt look away before you had plenty of time to.  
> ...  
> "But pocket!" i hear you say. "How can Krolia, who looks galra as heck, be keith's mom in your story, if his mom is a long line of human and magical human disguise?"  
> "Great question, readers. i guess you have to read and find out. but i will remind you of a certain instance when something caused Keith's disguise to slip, reaviling a small amount of purple, which golden quintesense re-hid."  
> "Oh! are you saying she'll somehow find purple quintesense and change to galra? but then how would she meet the blade? espesially if she leaved her knife behind?"  
> "Hmmm, maybe. of course, its possible that there are more people involved. people who raise keith and people who leave for the blade. people he is surprised to see is his mother, though his vlog indicates he knew her."  
> "Wait, are you saying krolia and yuul/yasmin are different people? but then how does the knife fit in? or Keith's dad at all?"  
> "I'm not saying anything, dear reader. well, except that we really nead to give Keith's dad a name. seriously."  
> "But you said- ahhhh! what do you mean???"  
> "RAFO, love. RAFO (Read And Find Out)" I say, before finally ending this note to both your dismay and relief.
> 
> Leave kudos/coments/whatever if you liked this chapter or think Keith's dad needs a canon name.  
> Thanks for reading, i'll see you next time!

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has been... I want to say 5 months in the making? I'm hoping to get it all out before season five, where I am inevitably proved wrong as to Keith's heritage. But, to clarify:  
> Synclra is the half-galra daughter of Blaytz, the original blue paladin. She married Marmora, a full blooded Galra. Their child is an ancestor of Keith. How distant an ancestor? That will be left purposefully vague. Anyway, in the beginning, Syn was going to be found by the Hopi tribe, but after being inspired by realizing Keith's map lined up more with one around the Havasupai reservation. So, a bunch or re-research later, and I am ready to roll out this theory.  
> PS. Havasupai means 'People of the blue-green water", and I think is a great place for the blue lion to be hiding.


End file.
